Common Antifungal Drug Decreases Tumor Growth and Shows Promise as Cancer Therapy
AUSTIN, Texas — An inexpensive antifungal drug, thiabendazole, slows tumor growth and shows promise as a chemotherapy for cancer. Scientists in the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin made this discovery by exploiting the evolutionary relatedness of yeast, frogs, mice and humans.
Thiabendazole is an FDA-approved, generic drug taken orally that has been in clinical use for 40 years as an antifungal. It is not currently used for cancer therapy.
Hye Ji Cha, Edward Marcotte, John Wallingford and colleagues found that the drug destroys newly established blood vessels, making it a “vascular disrupting agent.” Their research was published in the journal PLoS Biology. (more…)